


give it your all

by shchi



Series: champion [1]
Category: Terminator (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Car Racing, Alternate Universe - Formula One, Celebrations, Chinese Grand Prix 2018, Crushes, Don't copy to another site, F/F, Formula One, McLaren, One Shot, Red Bull Racing, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:48:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25188961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shchi/pseuds/shchi
Summary: Grace Harper is a Formula 1 racing driver for Mercedes, along with Diego Ramos. As expected, his younger sister is a big racing fan, but she's also a fan of Grace, in more reasons than just being the only female competitor in the sport.
Relationships: Grace Harper/Dani Ramos
Series: champion [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947523
Comments: 16
Kudos: 36





	give it your all

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this to distract from foot cramp pain.. anyway, some f1 terms if you don't watch it:
> 
> pit lane is where the pit wall (mechanics and engineers who do the pit stop watch race) and the drivers come in for a pit stop
> 
> apex - the 'top' of a corner. 'Hitting the apex allows the car to take the straightest line and maintain the highest speed through that specific corner.'
> 
> the driver is in contact with an engineer at the pit wall who gives instructions, sometimes in code (such as multi 27 or scenario 7)
> 
> parc fermé - area at track where the cars are driven back to the pits. they must be there when qualifying is over until the start of the race
> 
> qualy - the qualifying sessions to determine where the cars start on the grid. the car who is first is called the pole sitter, as they start next to the pole.
> 
> a grand prix weekend goes like:  
> friday, practice  
> saturday: qualifying  
> sunday: race day
> 
> there are only 20 drivers in f1. they are the best of the best. drivers have fire proof suits. braking in f1 requires so much force, as does driving an f1 car due to the g-force.
> 
> lock-up - where a driver breaks too hard and the wheel stops rotating and loses a bit of it (so it kind of has a straight edge)
> 
> a lot of mechanical errors can happen in f1, such as brakes failing, suspension failing, to complete loss of power. most instances, the driver will have to retire from the race.
> 
> the video i got some dialogue from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2_s0iwj_Ns  
> and also inspired by formula 1: drive to survive
> 
> with that all out the way, enjoy!

"See you fucking later, son," Diego says as he overtakes John Connor. Although he forgets his finger is on the radio button of his steering wheel at the time, and a member of his team informs him as such by saying: _"Don't get greedy, now. Settle down."_

He has released the button now, continuing to speed along the track. There's a car in front, and he hears instructions over the team radio: "Overtake Connor, overtake Connor. Once you cross the line, eight more laps to go. Let's push on."

"Copy," he answers as he grips the steering wheel, stamping on the brake pedal at the last moment, and hitting the apex. His foot leaves the brakes as soon as the corner is complete, and he slams on the throttle, narrowly overtaking John Connor, who is on the McLaren team. The commentator gets excited by that, and he knows his team are, because his engineer tells him: "Great work!"

Commentators get on Grace's nerves, not that she can really hear them, only at the start of the race as the cars drive up to their position on the grid. She finished first in qualifying, earned the pole position, while John finished third. A lot of people like to say that drivers overreact, that driving isn't hard.

They drive at almost 400km/h, withstand mass amounts of g-force and other drivers, braking is notoriously difficult, yet the 20 of them make it look easy. They have been described as having a 'fighter jet pilot' mentality. It's true. They have to.

Despite the dangers, Grace loves it. So far, she is is the lead of both this race and the championship as a whole, although it is only the third Grand Prix. Not bad for her third year, and she's 22. Diego got fastest lap time during the Bahrain Grand Prix. She's pushing the car to it's very limits due to a close encounter with Red Bull's William Hadrell. It costs her a second of time, and only on the previous lap, did she manage to overtake him again after five laps of being behind him. It wasn't uncommon for drivers to have rivals, but they used to be good friends outside of Formula 1. They were even in Formula 3 together, but when they made it to the very top of the racing world, their competitiveness out-did their friendship. Even a team mate could be a rival on the track. Not the best mentality to have, but everyone wants to do their best, even if it means overtaking their team mate.

An engineer has informed her that there's just six more laps to go, and she focuses, shifting up a gear.

Five laps left.

Four laps left.

Three laps left.

Two laps left.

One lap left.

She's so close to the finish line, but that's when all power to her car suddenly cuts out, even the radio. The engine dies, and all she can hear is William Hadrell's car and the commentator over the speakers.

"It seems that Grace Harper's car has lost power, allowing William Hadrell to take the lead! And he's done it! He's won the Chinese Grand Prix at the very last moment!"

"Fuck!" Grace yells out as her car comes to a complete stand still, but her team manage to connect. As more cars zoom past, she sees her team mate as one of them, and she pulls herself up out of her car and climbs out, walking along the kerb to the pit lane, back to her team like they requested. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Grace. You managed to pass the finish line. P-2. You were eight seconds ahead of Diego, who got P-3."

"It should have been P-1," she mumbles.

◇─◇──◇────◇────◇────◇────◇────◇─────◇──◇─◇

Soaked in champagne, the winning three put on smiles for the cameras as they made their way off the podiums to their respective teams and crew. You could always do better, even if you are in first place, you can strive to have a faster lap time. The press ask for them to give some words individually, they keep it as short as possible, and the camera crew is off on their way to bug the other drivers. Cameras and journalists are a big part of being an F1 driver. It's annoying at times because they _will_ demand a statement from a driver if they crash, asking how they are feeling. Yeah, they're feeling _great_ about crashing and retiring from the race. It's stupid, so stupid, but if they storm away, it's much worse than if they give a short answer. The headlines of all big news outlets will eat it up that a driver is angry, even when it's understandable. They don't care. They just want money. 

Money is another big thing in this sport. The drivers earn so much and they don't know what to do with it all. Diego donates a lot to charities in Mexico, he lives in Spain. Grace lives in Switzerland because the press got too much for her in London. She speaks French so she's not completely helpless. William Hadrell remains in London, and Grace hopes he stays there for all she cares. It's a shame she ends up thinking like this about him, but there is no point in trying to reconnect. Being the only woman meant people speculated romance rumours between her and other drivers, but she was quick to put that to rest last year by publicly coming out at a press conference. It got the people making up rumours to fulfill petty fantasies to shut up so quickly that it was almost funny. 

Yet it gave a certain someone hope. Dani Ramos is Diego's sister, and she's 21 years old, almost 22. She has always had an interest in Formula 1 due to her brother. All drivers start from a young age, so ever since she can remember, karting and racing has been a part of her life. She supports her brother at every single race, especially the home races in Mexico. There's nothing like a home race (nothing like the pressure to do well at a home race either), with all the fans cheering. Still, apart from a home race or just winning a grand prix in general, to win at Silverstone is _the_ dream. It's the home of Formula 1. Grace won at Silverstone last year, and Dani doesn't recall seeing her so happy. She's only met her a handful of times, and she's unbelievably nice.

It's almost a teenage girl's fantasy that Dani has. She can't and won't tell her brother or anyone. Except, she did have a friend, Amy, who was head over heels for John Connor, so apart from her, she will tell no one else. It's embarrassing, she supposes. There's probably lots of women who feel the same way about Grace. She's beautiful, almost too good to be true, and she's strong, her arm muscles alone tell you that much in the way they are more defined that some of the other drivers'. Dani came to watch the race today, and she hugs Diego as he walks in the room, congratulating him on his win. Grace soon follows him, baseball cap on her head (Diego has too), but there's just something about the drivers and their baseball caps. A bottle of water is thrown at her, and she catches it in one hand and unscrews the lid. The same is done for Diego. They can lose up to 3kg through sweat alone while racing, it's not the most attractive fact, but is anything attractive about this sport, apart from some of the drivers? 

Grace smiles, although Dani can't tell if it's at her or someone behind her. "It's good to see you," she says, looking at Dani, who panics and stutters out in a higher pitch than her usual voice that it's good to see her as well. Dani can only pray that she doesn't take her racing suit off so it's around her waist, because she is wearing a short sleeved t-shirt underneath due to the warm weather. She reminds herself to control herself, something that is way easier said than to actually be carried out effectively. 

"You did good," Dani wants to slap herself for saying something so stupid when this woman: one, lost first place due to matters she couldn't control and two, she nearly didn't finish at all, never mind get on the podium. It was pure luck, and Dani knows how much races matter to the drivers, and that 6th place is the lowest possible where they can still be happy, maybe 7th at a very big push. They are emotionally invested in each and every second of every race, every grand prix, every world championship. That's how much it matters to them. If they lose, crash, or the car malfunctions, they will be the most disappointed about it, because they know they can do better. The team know they can build a better car. Yet if the driver crashes, sometimes the leader of the team berates the poor driver. Everyone in the team pours their heart and soul (and a shit ton of money) into this sport. Formula 1 is on a whole other level of it's own, and everyone knows it. It's dangerous, people can die, and the drivers risk their lives every time they climb into their cars. There's no telling what will happen before the race starts, but maybe that is more of a reason for Dani to try and chance it with Grace. Well, hopefully. 

"Thanks." Grace's reply is brief, but Dani doesn't know what else she expects her to say; to be completely honest, she can barely believe that they are talking, having a conversation -- oh, wait, Grace just walked away, and Dani was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even answer her, because she spoke again, she heard her, but she wasn't listening. Shit, she'll have to ask her, if she can catch a minute with her.

Her hand's rub her temple in annoyance with herself. She turns to see Grace talking with a woman wearing a deep red hoodie with the hood up (who she just assumes is a friend of Grace's), but she glances back at Dani, who wasn't expecting that at all, her shocked face turns bright red, and she's never moved so quick in the direction of her brother.

"Woah, what's wrong?" he chuckles, until Dani snaps (quietly as not to draw attention over to them) at him, saying that this wasn't a laughing matter. While he stops laughing, he is still smiling.

Dani groans, "Can't you be serious?"

"You're my sister, I can't help it. What's up, anyway? You practically ran over to me."

"I just... I want to talk to Grace."

"Why can't you?"

"Uhhhh."

"Hey, Grace!" Diego calls out, and Dani wants nothing more than to disappear now. "Dani wants to talk to you!" God, siblings can be so unhelpful sometimes. 

In the end, Grace and Dani find an empty room, and by this point Grace has pulled her racing suit off down to her waist, and Dani has to try too hard not to look. 

She is looking down at her, and Dani's eyes are flickering around, not wanting to linger on anything for more than a second. She hears Grace sigh, as she asks Dani what is wrong, and if she is ok.

"I'm alright."

"Good," Grace smiles, but she's waiting to hear what else the shorter woman has to say. Now, Dani is under pressure because Grace is an F1 driver, so going slow is just not in her vocabulary, nor her day to day life. Dani stutters when she does try to talk, and the blonde chuckles slightly before reassuring her that it's alright, and that she doesn't have to be nervous. That's easy for her to say, Miss Confident over here.

Dani takes a deep breath to both mentally and physically prepare herself, but as soon as she builds up enough courage to dare to confess her feelings, Grace speaks again, and Dani focuses on nothing but listening. "You didn't hear what I said earlier?"

"Huh?"

Grace laughs. "It's alright, it doesn't matter. I've already got my answer. But, if you want to talk to me, can we do it another time, perhaps not post-race, or pre-race, or not on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday?"

Dani nods. "Uh, sure! I'd love to."

She watches as Grace smiles, pats her on the head, and then opens the door for her so they can leave the room. After they leave the room, Dani assumes Grace is going to get changed, so she goes to talk to the woman in the red hoodie. She can't find her anywhere, but she does have a text from Amy:

_You can thank me later!_

**Author's Note:**

> because of the ending, i feel like this could continue, so please let me know what you think!


End file.
